Improvement in corsets



2 Sheets--Sheet1.

T. s. GILBERT. Eurams.A

Patented Aug.1a,1a74.

INVNTOR Jimmy-9 2 Sheets--S'heet 2A.

T. S. GILBERT..

iNVENTOR wmvEssEs UNITED 4STATES.

PATENT QEEIoEo THOMAS S'. GILBERT, OF BIRMINGHAM, CONNECTICUT.

IMPROVEMENT lN CORSETS.

v Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 154,239, dated August 18, 1874; application filed y July`16, 1874.

To all whom -it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS S. GILBERT, of the village of Birmingham and county of New Haven, in the State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Corsets, of which the following is a specification:

This invention' relates, primarily, as an improvement tothe inventors patented corset having garment-supporters of twin-wire,r held in longitudinal. pockets, and independsupporter pockets or passages, and the employment of Suspenders attached at their respective ends to the garment-supporters, so as to balance the same within their pockets or passages, and thus to support they garments in an equal manner and without strain on the corset. The invention consists, secondly, in the combination of 'garment-supporters, suspenders, and narrow exible webs or strips for connecting the latter to the supporters, as hereinafter set forth, so that the supporters may be made of small size, and be adapted to work freely in their pockets or passages Without bending. Theinvention consists, thirdly, in thexcombination of a corset, a shoulder brace or braces, and balanced garment-supporters, substantially as hereinafter set forth, the shoulderbracesbeingappliedtothesuspenders,andtheir employment permitted or facilitated by the distribution of strain incident to the employment of the balanced supporters. The parts thus coact, and the whole isa new article of manufacture, combining functions and advantages not before associated in a single article. The invention consists, fourthly, in extending the suspending-webs to which the garment-supporters are attached so as to adapt them to suspend a pair of stocking supporters, as herein set forth. v

In the accompanying drawing, Figure l is a side elevation of a corset, illustrating the principal parts of this invention. Fig. 2 represents a vertical section in a plane parallel or nearly Aparallel to the front of the corset. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one of the garment-supporters and the connecting-web to which it is attached. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a garment-supporter, a stocking-supporter, and an extended connecting-web for suspending bot-h, as hereinafter described.

The corset C, having longitudinal pockets or passages p formed. therein, the garment# S, and are connected thereto by narrow webs or strips, W, of yflexible material, so as to balance the supporters, with their imposed weight, upon the shoulders of the wearer, and to equalize the strain on the suspenders, and at the same time to relieve the corset proper wholly from vertical strain.

The garment supporters G are made of twin-wire with circular coils, to form the projections, and short tangential stems, as clearly illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3, the latter being intended and adapted to work or slide freely in longitudinal directions within the pockets or passages p in the corset.

Owing to the employment of connecting webs or strips W the garment-supporters are adapted to be thus made short or small, so as not to extend above the waist, and consequently to retain their shape and not to have to bend.

, The supporting-webs W, in the illustration, are attached to the garment-supporters G by metallic clasps c, which serve, also, to form the supporting projections. The front pair of connecting-webs have metallic hooks h, eyeleted to their upper ends, to engage with eyelets i in the Suspenders, -these eyelets being duplicated or multiplied so as to provide for adjusting the Suspenders to the person, and

also for adjusting the garment-supporters as to height. The connecting-webs of the rear garmentsupporters are attached adjustably to the suspenders by oval-ring clasps or buckles b. (Shown clearly in Fig. 3.) These may be employed also for the front supporters, if desired, or the hook-and-eyelet fastening h i, or any equivalent device, may be employed at either` or both points. The details of these fastenings form no essential partof any of the:

features of the present invention.

There are innumerable methods whereby these supporters can be attached to the suspenders, as also many materials which Amay be used in the construction of similar supporters. There are also many forms and shapes of attachments which would furnish sufficient projections to answer as garment supporters, when applied to a corset in the manner herein described as the basis or principal feature of the present invention-namely, by connecting or attaching the same to the respective ends of Suspenders, so that they shall be sustained independently of the corset proper, and balanced on the shoulders of the wearer, as herein set forth.

The Suspenders S are, by preference, curved substantially as represented, so as to conform to the shape of the shoulders, and to bring the front ends of the same back to points under the arms. They are also, by preference, provided with elastic sections e, of an approved pattern.

To constitute with these Suspenders a shoulder-brace which will act efliciently to symmetrize the figure of the wearer by drawing the shoulders backward, one or more horizontal strips or webs, B, of elastic fabric, are i11- troduced between the rear ends ofthe suspenders, and securely sewed or otherwise attached thereto. This renders the article a combined corset, garment-supporter, and shoulder-brace, of peculiar simplicity and efficiency. The loose-garment supporters permit or facilitate the employment of the shoulder-brace, while the Suspenders, to which the supporters are connected, form the basis of the brace and parts thereof, and the corset-pockets for the garment-supporters, as herein described, connect and guide the attachments without interfering in the least with their independent action, as set forth.

In order to extend still further the useful functions of the combined article, the connecting or suspending webs W, which are attached to the front garment-supporters, may be extended in length and furnished with oval ringbuckles b2, or their equivalents, to receive the upper ends of supplemental elastic webs W, terminating in hooks h? or their equivalents, for supporting the stockings of the wearer, the clasps or buckles b2 providing for adjusting the stocking-supporters as to length to any required extent.

The following is claimed as new in this invention, namely: y

1. A corset, constructed substantially as described, with pockets or passages to receive garment-supporters, and provided with suspenders attached at their respective ends to the supporters, so as to balance the same in the manner set forth.

`2. The combination of garment-supporters G, having short stems to slide within pockets or passages in a corset, Suspenders S for sustaining the supporters independently of the corset, and iiexible connecting-webs W, substantially as herein described, for the purpose set forth.

3. A combination of a corset, a shoulderbrace, and balanced garment-supporters, substantially as herein shown and described, as a new article of manufacture.

4. The combination of a garment-supporter, Gr, an extended suspending-web, W, and a stocking-supporter, W2, attached to the extended web, substantially as herein shown and described, for the purpose set forth.

THOMAS S. GILBERT.

Witnesses:

DAVID TORRANCE, ELL. S. SMITH. 

